Interesting psychology, or everything about a person for beginners

Did you know that when you remember what happened, you change the details every time, so the images of the past are changeable? And that during sleep, your brain processes the events of the day and decides what to remember and what not (therefore, it is useful to repeat important information before going to bed)? That there are peculiar “mirror” neurons in the head that force you to copy the gestures, facial expressions, and intonations of your interlocutor?

The human psyche is an amazing mystery. But psychological scientists have still taken a few steps on this endless path to study the mysterious inner world of man, and people can benefit from this.

Problems communicating with children, husband, colleagues? Did you dislike yourself, and those around you suffer as a result? Do you want to change something in your life, but all your efforts are in vain?

Knowing the basics of psychology will help you - you can change feelings, behavior, and communication for the better. Let's talk about the main thing.

Human psychology - what is it?

Scientists have been studying psychology for several centuries and still have not decided what exactly they are studying.

From ancient Greek, “psychology” is translated as the study of the soul, but over the course of history, the focus of this science was aimed at a variety of objects: consciousness, experience, behavior, the unconscious, image perception, problems of existence, cognitive abilities, and so on.

If we take the simple route and start from the modern perception of the term, then psychology studies the psyche. And the psyche is the property of a subjective reflection of the objective world, which only highly organized living matter possesses. That is, a person with his brain, nerves, feelings. But, again, this is a narrow understanding of the word “psyche”.

One of the current interpretations of the subject that psychology studies is the inner world of man.

What interests psychology:

• cognitive processes (thinking, speech, attention, memory, imagination, representation, sensation, etc.),
• mental states (love, admiration, fear, anxiety, fatigue, hatred, sadness, determination, desires, drives, interests, etc.),
• mental properties (temperament, character, abilities, etc.),
• executive functions (attention control, suppression of automatic reactions, cognitive inhibition and flexibility, etc.).

How to take classes?

The information from the lessons in this course is fully adapted for practical use and is suitable for absolutely everyone. The most important thing here, as has been said more than once, is the transition from theory to practice. You can read smart books for years and know a lot of things, but all this will be equal to zero if it remains just a baggage of knowledge.

You can divide the study of all lessons into several stages. For example, set yourself the task of studying 2 lessons a week: 1 day – studying the material, 2 days – testing in practice, 1 day – a day off, etc. But you need to not just read, but study: carefully, consciously, purposefully. It is important to not just check or apply the tips and practical recommendations presented in the lessons once, but to systematically implement them in your everyday activities. Develop the habit of always remembering that you are studying human psychology - this will automatically make you want to apply something new in life again and again. The skill of applying psychological knowledge in practice will become honed and automatic over time, because it largely depends on experience. And our lessons are precisely aimed at teaching you how to gain this experience and give it the right direction.

Main directions of psychology

Psychology began with ancient mythological ideas about the soul, when people believed that the world was filled with ghost souls that inhabit the bodies of people, animals, plants and even inanimate objects.

A lot has changed since then. Formed as an independent discipline (and not an appendage of philosophy) in the 19th century, psychology approached the mysterious inner world of man from any angle.

Let us name only the main directions of psychology of the 20th century:

• Freudianism or psychoanalysis
  This psychological theory arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries thanks to Sigmund Freud and later formed the basis for the treatment of mental disorders.

  The theory is based on the concept of the unconscious. According to it, a person’s mental characteristics and behavior are explained by the subconscious, experiences from his past, most often conflicts and traumas from distant childhood. Neuroses are the result of human resistance to the demands of instinctive life. Basically, this refers to the suppression of sexual desires and the Oedipus complex (pathological attraction to a parent of the opposite sex).

  Psychoanalysis is the most popular direction in psychology, which has entered the people in the form of phraseological units, quotes, and cultural codes. But many modern psychologists dispute the universality of psychoanalysis and its applicability to every person. Freud made his conclusions by observing mental pathologies.

• Behaviorism
  Studies human behavior and is not interested in the mechanisms of mental activity. It grew out of the theory of conditioned reflexes by I.P. Pavlov: a living being reacts to stimuli from the external world with the help of certain behavior. According to the theory of behaviorism, a person's mental organization is determined by reflexes, acquired skills, reactions to external stimuli and motivation.
• Gestalt psychology
  Explains mental life based on the concept of a holistic image (gestalt), which cannot be decomposed into individual elements of perception. A textbook example of such a gestalt is a melody that is easily recognizable even if it is played in a different key or in variations. The fact that the psyche strives to organize experience into an understandable whole can be proven by the example of words with “holes”: “pndlnik” - it’s clear what it’s about?
• Humanistic psychology
  Puts the desire of a person - an active and free subject - for self-realization at the forefront.

Causes of phobias

Some scientists argue that phobias may be memories passed down from generation to generation using DNA.

Phobias are certain anxiety disorders of the psyche, during which a person is constantly haunted by a feeling of unreasonable fear. It can be caused by any outside actions or suddenly arisen circumstances. At this moment, a person begins to experience an irrational feeling of fear, persistent and all-encompassing, for the appearance of which there is no reason.

Currently, there are about 500 phobias described by scientists, among which the most common are agoraphobia or social phobia.

Absolutely anyone can experience fear in cases where they may suffer or die from someone else’s actions. This is a natural fear, which is a human defense mechanism and its instinct of self-preservation. It is consciously controlled by common sense and logic. Phobias are when a person is afraid of something that is not a threat to him, he experiences an obsessive and uncontrollable idea.

If a person suffering from a phobia is forced to live under the pressure of fear for a long time, he may develop panic terror syndrome.

As a rule, emotionally sensitive people with a rich imagination and a weak nervous system are prone to phobias. Scientists have found that, in general, attacks of severe fear can be provoked by a single case when a person was in real or imaginary danger. After what he experienced, he will try in every possible way to avoid her again. In this way, negative memories are cultivated and a phobia can develop from the resulting images.

Phobia, as a neurotic disorder, is quite widespread. According to some data, it occurs in almost 12% of the world's population. Most often this phenomenon is observed in women.

Currently, several group factors influencing the development of phobias have been identified:

• psychological;
• biochemical;
• genetic.

The importance of psychology in human life

In general, each person chooses for himself whether he needs knowledge about the basics of psychology or not. Some people, through trial and error, independently come to understand how to live, communicate, feel, while others shorten the path to wisdom with the help of books on psychology and consultations with psychologists.

Knowing how the human psyche works is useful in order to:

• understand yourself
• understand others
• manage yourself and relationships.

Do you know that people have attitudes that prevent them from achieving their goals? Would you like to learn how to control your emotions so that they don’t destroy you and others? Do you easily determine a person’s character and, depending on this, find an approach to him?

We do not encourage you to rush to master a new science. You learn the basics of psychology all your life, listening to your parents, watching other people, reading fiction: “War and Peace” alone will surpass hundreds of works of scientific psychologists.

And, of course, nowhere without errors! They educate as well as books. Each of us built castles in the air and became disappointed, burned bridges and regretted lost opportunities and relationships. But this path can be taken somehow softer and more constructively.

How to learn this?

Naturally, knowledge about psychology is not present in us from birth, but is formed throughout life. Some people, of course, have a predisposition to psychology. Such people often become psychologists, intuitively understand people, and look at life a little differently. Others have to specifically study psychological knowledge and put more effort and patience into mastering it. But, in any case, you can learn anything. And master the skill of applying psychological knowledge – even more so. Moreover, you can do this yourself.

There are two aspects to learning this skill - theoretical and practical.

• The theoretical aspect of psychology is the knowledge that is taught in educational institutions and is also given in the presented course;
• The practical aspect of psychology is the application of new knowledge in life, i.e. transition from theory to practice.

But it often happens that a theory remains a theory, because people simply do not know what to do with the information that they now possess. Any lessons, courses, trainings, lectures, seminars, etc. should be aimed at the practical application of knowledge in real life.

Taking this feature into account, the course, the introduction to which you are now reading, was compiled. The purpose of this course is not only to give you a good theoretical basis of psychological knowledge, but also to teach you how to use this knowledge. All course lessons have a two-way focus - theory and practice. The theoretical part contains the most important knowledge on the topic of human psychology and represents its quintessence. The practical part, in turn, consists of recommendations, advice, psychological methods and techniques designed for you to use them.

This course “Human Psychology” is:

• Systematized and understandable material for anyone, presented in a simple, interesting and accessible form.
• A collection of useful tips and tricks that are easy to put into practice from the very first day.
• The opportunity to see yourself and your life, as well as other people from a new, previously unknown side.
• The opportunity to increase the level of your intelligence, education and erudition by several levels, which undoubtedly plays a significant role in the life of a modern person.
• The opportunity to find the main motivating force that will encourage you to go forward and achieve success.
• An opportunity to grow as a person and improve the level and quality of your life.
• The opportunity to learn how to establish contact with any people (from your own children and parents to bosses and hooligans on the street).
• A way to achieve harmony and happiness.

Want to test your knowledge?

If you want to test your theoretical knowledge on the topic of the course and understand how suitable it is for you, you can take our test. For each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question.

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Application of psychological knowledge

In general, understanding yourself and people and being able to influence them is important in a variety of areas, which is why psychology can be different: children’s, family, pedagogical, corporate, military, and the like.

The principle here is simple. If you know how to name and describe your experience or some other mental activity, you are aware of it, understand it, and even master it to some extent.

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Methods of psychological influence

For example, many are interested in what methods are used to exert psychological influence on people. Have you been interested in this question? It is useful to know this in order not to succumb to manipulation by other people and to apply these methods in communication yourself (of course, with good intentions).

So, the main methods of psychological influence are as follows:

1. Infection
   This is the transfer of an emotional state from one person to another. The “target” person is usually infected unconsciously: the emotional state is read subconsciously. This applies to various strong feelings: euphoria, delight, panic, anger, fear.

   Infection is the oldest method of psychological influence. Many religious rituals and various public events (demonstrations, strikes, rallies, performances) are based on it.

2. Suggestion
   This is persuasion of a person using words against an emotional background. Suggestion will be powerful if you speak confidently, reinforcing the meaning of the words with an appropriate tone, emotional facial expressions and gestures. The most suggestible are people who are unsure of themselves and those who do not perceive information critically (that is, questioning it and looking for arguments).

   The most popular method: the manipulator presents the desired behavior of the “target” person as real, and evaluates it positively. For example, the head of the city may say: “I thank the residents for observing the mask regime,” although, in fact, the citizens did not even think about wearing masks. By replacing an expected fact with an allegedly accomplished one, the speaker tries to induce people to a certain behavior.

   Or another example: in a conversation with an absent-minded colleague, some kind of “I love doing business with you because you pay attention to my words” may work.

   It is also effective to combine the suggested information with facts that the person himself has experienced, which are familiar to him and will cause a response.

3. Persuasion
   This is the delivery of information by constructing a logical chain. The most harmless way, without manipulation, falsehood and emotions.
4. Imitation
   Reproduction by a person of a pattern of behavior: manner of speaking, gait, gestures, facial expressions, clothing, and so on. Usually happens on a subconscious level.

Silence is gold

Human psychology (interesting facts from people’s lives can be read for information) is interesting and educational. This science is often used when analyzing various situations.

The folk wisdom that says “silence is golden” is always relevant, but sometimes, in a given situation, it is quite difficult to adhere to this interpretation. Over the years, after gaining certain life experience, a real awareness of these words comes, and opponents during a conversation learn to remain silent and try not to say too much.

Thanks to research, we can conclude that if you share your aspirations and plans with others, the chances of achieving them are reduced due to the fact that the person loses motivation.

There are several everyday moments during which the best solution would be to remain silent.

Psychology of human memory

And I would also like to dwell on such an object of study of psychology as memory. Why her?

Memory is the most intriguing human ability. It makes a person a person. If the functionality of any of the sense organs fails, the person will still remain himself. But without memory he will lose his “I”.

Memory is comprehensive: any mental process will necessarily become a memory.

Someone calculated that the human brain can store 1 million gigabytes of information. For comparison, a computer's RAM is 4-8 gigabytes, tiny compared to the brain.

But how memory works is a mystery that has armies of scientists puzzling over it. A widespread theory (and psychoanalysis is built on it) is that a person does not forget anything, his entire past is encoded in his brain. And if you find the code, you can resurrect the smallest details of the past. This theory is confirmed by hypnosis and phenomenal examples of absolute memory - they exist.

Neuroscientists say that the process of remembering is the result of imprinting on tens of billions of human brain cells. But how exactly do the bonds work in this mixture of molecules, ions, proteins and lipids? There is still a long way to go to solve this mystery. The main paradox is that each molecule of the body is reborn several times during life, connections between them are formed and destroyed millions of times, but memory is preserved.

What is the practical use of memory psychology? Memory can be developed.

For example, have you heard of Cicero's method of memorization, also called the Roman room system? This is interesting. The famous Roman politician was a master of oratory and spoke without notes. And he remembered his speech before the performance as follows. I walked around the house and mentally placed the main points in different places. Try to arrange your thoughts in a certain order, imagining some familiar room and, as it were, walking around it along a certain route.

But this is a particular thing. To summarize, the most popular ways to develop memory are:

• associative series,
• word games,
• mechanical learning by heart,
• reading aloud,
• logical problems, solving equations and examples in the mind,
• some computer games and online simulators.

Train your memory! It reflects the past but serves the future. That is, what was is fixed in memory insofar as it is necessary for what will be. Difficult? But exciting!

Subconscious struggle with boring interlocutors

It is believed that the human mind can rewrite monotonous information or boring speech of the interlocutor so that it seems more interesting to him and is easier for him to perceive.

But there are situations when on the way you meet a person talking incessantly, in such a situation you can resort to some rules that will help you avoid a boring monologue:

• You need to make it clear to your interlocutor as soon as possible that the information he has provided has already been mastered. To do this, you can use an affirmative nod of the head accompanied by the phrase “that’s understandable” or a top-down movement of the hand with the palm facing the floor. The human brain recognizes such gestures as a signal to end a conversation.
• In the case of “active listening”, in order to finish a topic that is not interesting or familiar, you can interrupt the speaker with the phrase “if I understand correctly, then...”. It is necessary to continue the phrase with the shortest possible excerpt from the entire text provided by him, which contains the main meaning of what is being discussed.
• If the conversation drags on too much and the interlocutor is wasting time without specifying the specifics of the conversation, he can be interrupted by asking the question: “what exactly is the conversation about?” or “what follows from this?” In this way, you can push the person to indicate the essence of the conversation.
• Also, you can quite intelligently end a conversation with a boring interlocutor without hurting his feelings with such phrases: “this is all very interesting, but I’m in a hurry” or “you’re telling amazing things, but it’s time for me to run.”
• In order to stop a boring conversation, you can use non-verbal signs. To do this, you need to look at your watch carefully and for a long time. You can constantly be distracted by other people, just look around or concentrate your gaze on passers-by. Such gestures remind the speaker that the dialogue has smoothly turned into a monologue.
• The most effective, but perhaps the rudest way is to interrupt a boring conversation with the phrase “you did wrong” or “why did you do that.” Such statements will discourage a person from telling his story further.

What books on psychology do we recommend reading?

It all depends on what your tasks are. If you are interested in general psychology, then it is best, of course, to turn to academic publications recognized by universities. This:

• “General Psychology” by Maklakov,
• "Fundamentals of General Psychology" by Rubinstein,
• “13 dialogues about psychology” by Sokolova,
• "Introduction to General Psychology" Gippenreiter,
• “Clinical Psychology” by Kholmogorova, 4 volumes.

But if you need help in certain areas, these should be special books.

The question is how to communicate with a child? We recommend books by the same Yulia Borisovna Gippenreiter - she teaches you to actively listen, communicate so that there are no conflicts, results are achieved, and most importantly, so that the child is happy and develops as a person.

Interested in social impact? Do you work in marketing and sales? You should like Robert Cialdini's cult book “The Psychology of Influence.”

There are many memory training books: Gareth Moore, Jonathan Hancock, Ryuta Kawashima, Andrei Safronov, Mikhail Litvak and the like.

We are not even trying to cover this entire huge layer of books on popular psychology - there are millions of them. We just outline the starting points - then we will continue on our own.

Relationships between spouses

Relationships with a loved one are fraught with difficulties and pleasant moments. Psychological facts will help you understand the points of interest in relationships:

1. When an individual finds love, the neural circuits of the brain are suppressed, which leads to making a wrong decision.
2. Couples who met during emergency situations are the strongest.
3. More often than not, individuals fall in love with individuals similar to their parents.
4. To strengthen fading feelings, you need to create a secret accessible only to one of the members of the couple.
5. The success of a marriage depends on the duration of the courtship.
6. In most cases, successful relationships are observed in couples where the man is younger than the woman.
7. Romance lasts 1 year.
8. Scientists have proven that making quarrels public increases love.
9. There are 38% of people in the world who will never find love.
10. To reduce feelings of bitterness after a breakup, you need to engage in active sports. Physical activity produces dopamine, which suppresses feelings of despair.

Mistrust is considered the main factor in the occurrence of quarrels and breakdowns in relationships.

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